But today’s Twitter chat with the mayor, where he spent 45 minutes trying to answer a barrage of questions from users about how he plans on fixing California as governor, might have had some folks wondering why Newsom didn’t use a seemingly more useful -- although perhaps ol' fashioned -- chat site for the Q&A.

Twitter allows only 140 characters per message. That total reportedly relates to the number of characters allowed on cell phones.

The mayor had to provide short answers to field questions requiring thorough answers.

The topics included health care, on which Newsom tweeted, “inability to pay should never mean denial of care. We have univ. health care in SF w/pub opt.”

He also addressed a question on high speed rail, saying it is “essential to state’s environ & econ future” and that “benefits vastly outweigh costs.”

He briefly discussed his campaign: “Spending time building grassroots movement to change CA. Working hard to raise $, you can help us.”

Journalists joined the discussion, as well as Craig Newmark, founder of Craiglist, who has lauded the mayor’s push for transparency in government regarding the recent launch of DataSF.org.

One San Francisco resident even made a complaint to the mayor: “Why do the fog horns have to be so loud?” the post read. “Kept me up half the night and I'm in Western Addition, not even near H20.”